Web Site Evaluates Pavement Performance

Mathematical modeling of the performance of highway transportation infrastructure plays a crucial role in decision making for maintenance and rehabilitation. Using these models, which incorporate factors such as traffic loads, environmental conditions, and pavement maintenance history, engineers can better predict when pavement will need rehabilitation, how much that rehabilitation will cost, and when the pavement must be replaced. This information can then be used in setting maintenance and operating policies.

In late 2007, ITI researcher Professor Pablo Durango-Cohen launched the Pavement Analysis Comparison (PAC) web site dedicated to the mathematical modeling of pavement performance. The PAC web site, hosted by ITI, contributes to the theory and practice of performance modeling by serving as an authoritative repository of modeling information and by providing online access to a test bed that allows researchers to evaluate the capabilities of their own models against both established benchmarks and state-of-the-art models from recently published literature.

Because of the interactive nature of the PAC web site, it supports development and testing of more sophisticated pavement performance models that,
in turn, improve the overall performance of the nation’s highways.

During the last quarter of 2008, the PAC web site received over 500 visitors from over 100 unique addresses, with the majority originating from universities and corporations in the United States and Taiwan.